120 students from Blagoveshchensk’s schools took part in the Smart Technologies program
15 july 2021
Blagoveshchensk has just finished hosting a series of training events called Science Sessions for school students aged 11 through 14 who have shown an interest in scientific and technical subjects. A total of 120 children took part in the sessions. The project was implemented with SIBUR’s support as part of its social investment program, the Formula for Good Deeds, and with the support of Blagoveshchensk District’s Department of Education in the Republic of Bashkortostan.
Over the five days of their training, the participants of the Smart Technologies course were introduced to basic modeling concepts, and guided by their experienced teachers, the students practiced state-of-the-art technological solutions that are used in smart home systems. Working with soldering irons, circuit boards, and sensors, the students built various smart gadgets including a flashlight, a sensor switch, a light sensor, and a magnetic field sensors.
The Science Session conducted within the framework of the Smart Technologies program was vibrant and very informative, Vera Sablina, the course’s facilitator and teacher, noted. We played teambuilding games with the students, had debates, and developed projects. And, of course, the most exciting part of each day included practice sessions where participants, under the guidance of their course instructors and teaching assistants, could build a battery, a portable loudspeaker, a laser alarm system, and stage many other physics experiments. The boys and girls listened to the theoretical part of the class with a lot of interest, since all lectures were accompanied by interactive presentations and videos.
The educational Science Sessions project seeks to promote natural and exact sciences with an emphasis on engineering design, robotics, and physics. During their school vacations, the students get to acquire up-to-date knowledge and acquire design and research skills through the format of cognitive leisure activities. Teachers involved in the project are introduced to state-of-the-art teaching techniques designed to unlock students' potential.
We were able to get all the students introduced to each other and build them into one cohesive team, Svetlana Kokryatskaya, an assistant with the Smart Technologies course and an elementary school teacher, noted. Each day started with exciting games. Following that, the student attended scientific lectures in physics, reasoned, answered questions, and acquired new knowledge. Following the theoretical part of the class, the most interesting practical part came where they created, invented and built unique things. Day Four of the camp was the busiest and most intense! The session’s participants designed items that could make other people’s lives easier. The students were not just able to dream things up but to prove that building such gadgets is doable and they also helped each other see the advantages and drawbacks of their inventions.